A 48-year-old man accused of firing a weapon at a white SUV that looked like a law enforcement vehicle on Aug. 29 was later released on his own recognizance, according to court documents obtained by The Batavian.
Robert James Talbot, of Batavia, was arraigned in Centralized Arraignment Part Court, but his prior federal convictions were not sufficient for the judge to set bail or order him held.
He was arraigned in the early morning of Aug. 29.
He was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, and criminal mischief in the third degree.
Those are not qualifying offenses for bail or pre-trial confinement.
The judge noted he had a criminal history but "not two felonies."
The judge can set bail if a defendant has been sent to prison on two separate occasions.
Court documents contain a statement from the owner of the vehicle, who said he was driving a "white 2016 police package Ford Explorer."
He parked at a mobile home lot at 5066 Clinton Street Road, where he was visiting a friend.
"Moments after I entered the residence, I heard what sounded like two gunshots," the victim wrote. "I didn't think much of it at that time. Then again, between 12:00 -- 12:30 p.m., I heard two more gunshots. Again, I wasn't concerned with the sounds. It was around that time that my friends were going to leave their residence for an appointment, so I, too, was going to leave as I returned to my vehicle. I grabbed my door handle and saw debris on my driver's seat. I then saw more debris on my dashboard. It was then I saw that my windshield looked like it had been shot."
There were four bullet holes in the windshield.
The victim called 9-1-1, and a state trooper was dispatched. State police investigated and concluded the shots came from a specific location.
The investigation led to the arrest of Talbot.
Talbot was allegedly found in possession of a Savage Mark II .22 LR Rifle and an H+R 1871 Pardner Pump 20-gauge shotgun.
In 2014, while in Texas, Talbot allegedly set up a Facebook page where he tried to recruit followers for an insurgency. He revealed plans to rob banks to fund the insurgency.
He was convicted of attempted interference with commerce by robbery and solicitation to commit a crime of violence and was sentenced to Federal Prison in November 2015.
It's unclear on when he was released and when he returned to Batavia.
After learning of his release, Assembly Steve Hawley issued a statement pointing to the case as an example of lax bail reform laws for Talbot's release.
“Once again, we see the disastrous results of bail reform; this man was and is a clear and present danger to society, but unfortunately, due to big city liberals’ soft-on-crime attitude, he was able to walk free and can roam the streets again," Hawley said. "The fact that someone who once went to federal prison for terroristic activities and then fired a gun at cars is not able to be held in jail is asinine. If this isn’t someone who should not be allowed on our streets, then I don’t know who is. One thing is abundantly clear: bail reform must be repealed, and we must allow our judges to determine bail for dangerous individuals; if we don’t, incidents like this one will keep on occurring.”
His next scheduled court appearance is Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. in Batavia Town Court.
Previously:
